2018 Goals Review & Summer Giveaway!

Time for our 2018 summer giveaway! Though before we dive into the details, we want to do a review of our 2018 goals. Earlier this year, we did a video on our channel goals for 2018. Since a lot of things have changed in our life, we thought we’d see how we’re tracking in terms of our goals, and see if we need to adjust them.

Our 2018 goals

1. Drone footage:

Our goal was to share more drone footage. We had a good start this year, but it’s been a few months since we’ve flown the drone. We have some trips planned for the rest of the year, so I’m hoping we capture more aerial footage.

2. Giveaways:

This one goal that we’re definitely meeting this year. As we’ve been working closely with more brands, they’ve been willing to give us products for giveaways. We’ll continue to do giveaways whenever we can, including at the end of this video/post.

3. Community videos:

This is one area that needs some work. I feel a bit self-conscious doing videos about our personal life, but I I need to get over it. I’d love to share how I work and create our videos. Since I’ve learned so much over the past year, I’m working on a course to help people who are interested in starting a YouTube channel. It includes both video, editing, and business items that learned and wished that I knew when I started.

4. 4K video:

I’m happy to report that we’ve upgraded almost all our of cameras to 4K! Most of our videos (including this one) are now being filmed and posted in 4K. It might not seem like a big deal, but going from regular HD to 4K meant some serious upgrades. I upgraded my primary camera from a Canon PowerShot G7X to a Panasonic Lumix GH5, as well as my laptop and drone. We also had to invest in a better storage solution since 4K footage consumes so much space.

I say this not as a complaint since I’m extremely happy with my current setup. Though if you’re also a creator and looking to make the jump from 1080p HD to 4K, know that it’s a hefty upgrade process.

5. Videos on LA:

This is another goal that needs some work. I struggle with this one since I know only a few of you are from LA, so I don’t want to clog up the channel with LA content that may not be relevant. Though I think it’s still worthwhile for us to share the unique and interesting places that we explore in Los Angeles, especially since it’s such an interesting and diverse city.

6. Collaborations:

This continues to be a strong goal for the year. We recently launched our Travel Creator Interview Series where we’ve interviewed several related creators in our space like Dustin from Waller’s Wallet and Jason from Nomad Travel Hacker. We have a several more that we are currently in the planning stage, including one with a big credit card channel and also a large travel channel.

7. Partnerships:

We’ve been expanding our partnerships, especially when it comes to travel gear. We’ve managed to develop some great relationships with brands like Travelon, Loctote, Happy Luxe, and others. In return, they’ve provided us with products for giveaways and unbiased reviews.

We did suffer a minor setback. We lost our partnership with Bankrate since we weren’t generating enough credit card applications. Losing our affiliate relationship with Bankrate was a financial hit for us, though it may have been for the best. Our goal has been to never promote a product or service because of the money. We only promote things that we actually like and use, and that includes credit cards. It may be something that we explore in the future, but for now, we’re fine using our own personal referral links for cards. Plus, we are not pressured or incentivized to promote more credit card products.

BONUS GOAL: YouTube subscribers

Our unofficial subscriber goal is 10,000 YouTube subscribers by the end of the year. We are still on track to achieve this milestone. A big thank you to you all for helping us grow the channel by liking, commenting, and sharing our videos with others!

Enter our summer giveaway

Now for the fun part. We’ve assembled a summer giveaway with some of our favorite travel gear items:

Entering our giveaway is simple. Just fill out the entry form below or on the entry page. You don’t have to purchase anything, but there are multiple ways to enter and gain entries. By signing up for some of the social media channels, you’ll earn extra entries into the contest. The more options you complete, the more entries that you’ll earn. And of course, there’s no pressure to enter! We’ll randomly select our winner on September 1, 2018.

Keep in mind that the contest is only for US residents. Though if you’re not based in the US, don’t worry. We’ll have more giveaways soon, so stay tuned.

Yosemite is going to be amazing — though just be careful with the recent fires. A lot of trails might be closed because of all the burning. We just went to Zion National Park this past weekend and it was incredible. We did some of the most difficult and rewarding hikes that I’ve ever experienced. ?